JUST PUBLISHED!

The newest publication of the CIS, based upon our 2011 conference:

Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine brings together an international community of historians, literature scholars and archaeologists to explorehow the integrated study of rabbinic texts and archaeology increases our understanding of both types of evidence, and of the complex culture which they together reflect. This volume reflects a growing consensus that rabbinic culture was an “embodied” culture, presenting a series of case studies that demonstrate the value of archaeology for the contextualization of rabbinic literature. It steers away from later twentieth-century trends, particularly in North America, that stressed disjunction between archaeology and rabbinic literature, and seeks a more holistic approach. http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/204

Table of Contents

Contents

Steven Fine
and Aaron Koller

Preface v

Shawn Zelig
Aster

Mishnah Baba Metsia 7:7 and the Relationship of Mishnaic
Hebrew to

Northern Biblical Hebrew 1

Jonathan
Milgram

Mishnah Baba Batra 8:5 – The Transformation of the
Firstborn Son from

Family Leader to Family Member 19

Noa
Yuval-Hacham

Mishnah Avodah Zarah 4:5 – The Faces of Effacement: Between
Textual and

Artistic Evidence 29

Joshua
Weistuch and Ben Zion Rosenfeld

Tosefta Ma‘aser Sheni 1:4 – The Rabbis and Roman Civic
Coinage in Late

Antique Palestine 53

Yonatan
Adler

Tosefta Shabbat 1:14 – “Come and See the Extent to Which
Purity Had Spread”

An Archaeological Perspective on the Historical Background
to a Late

Tannaitic Passage 63

Uzi Leibner

An Illustrated Midrash of Mekilta de R. Ishmael, Vayehi
Beshalah, 1 –

Rabbis and the Jewish Community Revisited 83

Lawrence H.
Schiffman

Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 1 (71b–72a) – “Of the Making of
Books”:

Rabbinic Scribal Arts in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls 97

Alexei
Sivertsev

Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 2,6 (20c) – The Demise of King
Solomon and

Roman Imperial Propaganda in Late Antiquity 111

Burton L.
Visotzky

Genesis Rabbah 1:1 – Mosaic Torah as the Blueprint of the
Universe –

Insights from the Roman World 127

R. Steven
Notley

Genesis Rabbah 98:17 – “And Why Is It Called Gennosar?”
Recent

Discoveries at Magdala and Jewish Life on the Plain of
Gennosar in the Early

The Piyyutim le-Hatan of Qallir and Amittai: Jewish
Marriage Customs in

Early Byzantium 275

Afterwords

Eric Meyers

The Use of Archaeology in Understanding Rabbinic Materials:

An Archaeological Perspective 303

Daniel
Sperber

The Use of Archaeology in Understanding Rabbinic Materials:
A Talmudic

Perspective 321

The Center for Israel Studies, established in 2007, is an expression of the longstanding relationship between Yeshiva University and the land and State of Israel. The center nurtures excellence in interdisciplinary scholarship and the teaching of Israel throughout history and across disciplines, with a keen focus upon the modern state.

Folktales of Israel Videos Now Online!

Happy Yom Ha'Atzmaut from the CIS!

The CIS wishes the entire YU Community a happy Yom Ha'Atzmaut! In this video, Rabbi Dr. Bernard Rosensweig, Professor of Jewish History at YU, remembers Yom Ha'Atzmaut 1948, when he was a student at Yeshiva College. Enjoy!

Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The CIS was deeply involved in Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that ran from March 14 to July 8, 2012. Click here for information on the CIS events and the conference that we sponsored together with the Met in conjunction with the exhibition: